05/01/2013

OverbookedCCook - Chocolate Meringues

As promised, here is the recipe from last Friday's Pic of The Week. These are always a big hit and are not hard at all.

One word of caution - meringues are finicky about humidity. They will turn out well on a dry day and poorly on a very humid day. I also am not a fan of trying egg-free work arounds. The base of all good meringue is egg whites. If you have problems with eggs, better to avoid them.

Tools you will need:

Baking parchment paper (now easily available at any grocery store next to aluminum foil)

Cookie sheets

Large pastry bag or cookie press

Egg separater (optional - I use the traditional method of transferring from shell to shell)

Electric mixer (beating meringues by hand is possible but what a workout!)

Meringue Ingredients:

4 egg whites

1 cup white sugar (superfine sugar will make even smoother meringues if you can find it)

1 Tsp cornstarch

1 1/2 oz. dark chocolate grated (no need to invest in high end chocolate for these - a dark Hershey bar will do.)

Ingredients for filling (if making from scratch)

2/3 cup heavy or whipping cream

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Line cookie sheets with parchment and set aside. Beat egg whites on high speed until they will hold a soft peak. Gradually add half the sugar and beat until stiff and glossy. Take mixer off stand and continue by hand.

Carefully fold the remaining sugar, the cornstarch, and the grated chocolate in by hand with a spatula.

Spoon the mixture into the pastry bag or cookie press. Warning - this stuff is messy! The first bagful is easy - it's the next ones that get messy and the main reason I prefer to use a cookie press. Tip: to fill your pastry bag more easily, set it, tip down, in a tall drinking glass and fold the edges of the bag down over the glass like a collar.

Pipe cookie sized rounds or stars (use the decorating tip of your choice) spaced at least 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 275˚ for about an hour - change the position of the trays halfway through.

VERY IMPORTANT! When the meringgues are done baking DO NOT REMOVE THEM FROM THE OVEN. Keep the door closed and turn the oven off and let them sit for at least 30 minutes, sometimes longer. This helps them dry out completely without burning and prevents them from cracking.

Once the meringues are cool, take one, spoon some whipped cream onto it and put another meringue on like a sandwich cookie. Set aside in a bowl and repeat until you have used all the meringues.

To make whipped cream from scratch put the heavy cream into an electric mixer and beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until you have the consistency you like. Caution - never overbeat whipping cream! You will wind up with sweetened butter!

If you serve these immediately they will be both creamy and crunchy. If you let them sit for an hour or more (in the refrigerator - never let them sit too long at room temp) the cream will work into the meringue and the whole thing melts in your mouth. If you don't wish to assemble the meringues with cream right away, the meringues themselves will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.

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Goals

I was raised with a Scots/German dedication to setting goals. I imagine this was to teach me discipline and help me maintain a forward momentum. I'm sure it was not to create a constant sense of inadequacy.
That was just a bonus.